DENTAL MATERIALS - A PROBLEM IN ALLERGY D IAGNOSIS .1. ANALYSIS OF PATCH TEST-RESULTS IN PATIENTS WITH ORAL MUCOSAL COMPLAINTS OR PROBLEMS POSSIBLY RELATED TO DENTURE MATERIALS

Patch testing as a part of the diagnostic evaluation of patients suffe ring from oral mucosal complaints or with symptoms where dental materi als are suspected to be the cause is hampered by numerous difficulties . The ingredients of denture materials as well as their liberation in the oral cavity are often unknown. Contact with many of the potential ingredients of denture materials can occur on other occasions, as well , thus making it difficult to find out where the patient has acquired his or her sensitization. The special morphological and immunological situation in the oral mucosa may produce tolerance of substances which evoke a positive patch test reaction on the skin of the back. This pa per introduces the possible spectrum of allergens in these patients an d discusses the difficulties in the assessment of the relevance of pos itive patch test reactions. From August 1992 to July 1994, 756 patient s with complaints of the oral mucosa and/or suspected contact allergy to denture materials were patch tested in the departments of dermatolo gy joining the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology in Ge rmany (IVDK). Among these patients, women were overrepresented, while individuals with atopic dermatitis were underrepresented. The allergen spectrum included amalgam, mercury compounds, gold salts, palladium c hloride and methyl methacrylate. However, the epidemiological value of these data is limited. A second part of this paper will review the va rious groups of allergens.